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Friday, January 8, 2016

Blog Tour for Off the Clock by @RoniLoren with #excerpt and #Giveaway @BerkleyRomance

I always enjoy Roni Loren's books so I'm stoked to be part of another tour for her latest book, Off the Clock. We have an excerpt of this steamy read and there's a tour-wide giveaway to enter. Enjoy!

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE LOVING ON THE EDGE NOVELS, THE FIRST IN A SENSUAL NEW SERIES

Overtime has never felt so good…

Marin Rush loves studying sex. Doing it? That’s another story. In the research lab, Marin’s lack of practical knowledge didn’t matter, but now that she’s landed a job at The Grove, a high-end, experimental sex therapy institute, she can’t ignore the fact that the person most in need of sexual healing may be her.

Dr. Donovan West, her new hotshot colleague, couldn’t agree more. Donovan knows that Marin’s clients are going to eat her alive unless she gets some hands-on experience. And if she fails at the job, he can say goodbye to a promotion, so he assigns her a list of R-rated tasks to prepare her for the wild clientele of The Grove’s X-wing.

But some of those tasks are built for two, and when he finds Marin searching for a candidate to help her check off her list, Donovan decides there’s only one man for the job—him. As long as they keep their erotic, off-the-clock activities strictly confidential and without strings, no one will get fired—or worse, get attached…

Donovan
stared out the window at the grounds and tucked his hands in his pockets,
centering himself and bringing the focus back to the task at hand. “I want you
to succeed here, Marin. Don’t doubt that. I’m going to train you to the best of
my ability, and I have full confidence that you’ll catch on quickly. As for our
past, I think we’re both grown-ups and can leave that where it is.” He paused,
trying to let go of his dour thoughts and channel some levity. He smiled at his
reflection in the window. “Unless you need to profess some undying love that’s
been burning for me since you let me divest of your virginity?”

*

Marin’s
whirling work-related thoughts skidded to a halt, all of them falling off the
edge at Donovan’s comment. Her lips parted.

But
Donovan spun around, a devilish smile on his handsome face and his hands still
tucked in his pockets. “That’s how it’s supposed to go, right? The guy who
takes the V-card always has a special place. Research has proven it.” He put
his hand on his chest. “Come on, did you write my name in your notebooks with a
heart around it? You can tell me. I’m a doctor.”

A
choked laugh escaped her. “Research doesn’t say any such thing. Plus, your name
would be too long to fit in a heart. And if you recall, I walked
away from you that night, doctor.
So you were probably the one pining over your misguided night with a teenager.”

He
chuckled, the sound as rich and warm as she remembered. It softened some of
those hard edges he’d acquired in the years since she’d known him, gentled the
icy blue in his eyes. “Of course I was. There was bad poetry written. Sad songs
played. I went through this weird emo/goth phase. It wasn’t pretty.”

“I’m
sure,” she said dryly. But let out an internal sigh of relief at his shift in
mood. This was the Donovan she remembered. He was still in there somewhere. She
could work with that guy. She wasn’t so sure about the other.

He
grinned, unrepentant. “See. You’re going to do just fine. There are two
important requirements to work in this field: shamelessness and a sense of
humor.” He raised a finger. “Oh, and the ability to keep a straight face no
matter what.”

He
gave her a super-serious therapist face.

She
tried to give her own back to him, but she lost the staring contest and
laughed.

He
pointed at her. “All right. Elephants slain?”

He
still hadn’t told her what he’d been doing in the parking lot in that
half-dressed state, but it really wasn’t any of her business. “Sure. Bleeding
on the floor.”

“Aw,
poor elephants.”

He
slipped off his suit jacket, hooked it around the back of his chair, and sat
behind his desk in one gracefully executed maneuver—all confidence and swagger.
The accomplished doctor. The ridiculously beautiful man. Donovan West was pure
impact.

She
had a feeling he was probably loved or hated around here, not much in between.
He was a man who inspired reaction. He’d sure as hell always inspired one in
her. Just not one that had any place at work.

Stop
it. She sat
up straighter, studiously ignoring how well his shoulders filled out that dress
shirt, how the blue of his tie matched his eyes, and how his dark hair looked
thick enough for her fingers to get lost in. Nope. Totally wasn’t going to pay
attention to any of that.

About the author

Roni wrote her first romance novel at age fifteen when she discovered writing about boys was way easier than actually talking to them. Since then, her flirting skills haven’t improved, but she likes to think her storytelling ability has. Though she’ll forever be a New Orleans girl at heart, she now lives in Dallas with her husband and son.

If she’s not working on her latest sexy story, you can find her reading, watching reality television, or indulging in her unhealthy addiction to rockstars, er, rock concerts. Yeah, that's it. She is the National Bestselling Author of The Loving on the Edge series from Berkley Heat.